Transit investigators solve last week’s NW transit stoppage
Posted Jan 23, 2014 11:52 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
The northwest leg of the LRT was out of commission between Dalhousie and Crowfoot stations for most of last week after an overhead wire came down on the westbound approach to the Crowfoot Station.
The line was down Tuesday through Sunday, forcing riders to use shuttle busses and adding extra traffic for northwest commuters.
At the time, transit officials could not determine what caused the line to snap.
Craig Harper, Infrastructure Division manager for Calgary Transit, said transit investigators have discovered problems with a device that collects electric current from overhead lines, caused the C-Train to stop.
“A loss of carbon contact strip on top of the pantograph caused the pantograph to buckle just as it entered the Crowfoot station crossovers and become entangled with the wires,” said Harper.
The contact strip is being compared to a worn out break pad and the pantograph as the trolley-like arm atop the train.
This is the first time this problem has occurred on a Calgary LRT line, said Harper, adding every measure is being taken to ensure it doesn’t happen again.
